# Mexico Independent, 16 December 1937 — Page 4 — "Avery W. Skinner" **Source:** Mexico Independent, Thursday, December 16, 1937, Page Four **Collection:** NYS Historic Newspapers (nyshistoricnewspapers.org) **Record ID:** mxi19371216-01.1.4 **URL:** https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=mxi19371216-01.1.4&srpos=1&e=-------en-20-mxi-1--txt-txIN-skinner--------- **Captured:** 2026-03-27 **PDF asset:** `/?a=is&oid=mxi19371216-01.1.4&type=staticpdf` (single-page PDF of Page 4) --- ## Research significance This page contains two independent eyewitness references to the **Skinner family residence on Railroad Street** (Mexico, NY), published in the same week Avery W. Skinner died (December 1937). It also contains the "Who's Who in America" biographical entry confirming Avery Warner Skinner as the son of **Timothy (V.) Skinner**, directly tying the family genealogy to the NRHP nomination subject. ### Key passages for address research **1. Main tribute article (R. Austin Backus):** > "Many important conferences in which some of the leading educationalists of the state participated were held in the study of his **residence on Railroad Street**." Context: describing Avery W. Skinner's activities in his final months, including planning for the new Mexico central school. **2. Tribute from Mrs. Mary Holmes Richards, Phoenix, N.Y.:** > "We advised him to see Dr. Skinner and went with him to the **brick house on Railroad Street**. At his desk, busy with his own affairs, this loyal friend talked with the young man, a complete stranger, as only he could talk, and advised him with wisdom and sympathetic understanding as only he could counsel." Context: a personal account of visiting Skinner at his home approximately one year before his death (i.e., c. 1936–37). **3. "Who's Who in America" entry (reprinted):** > "Skinner, Avery Warner, educator; born Mexico, N. Y., Aug. 18, 1870; son of **Timothy (V.)** and Sarah L. (Rose) Skinner…" This directly confirms the father–son genealogy: Avery Warner Skinner (1870–1937) was the son of **Timothy V. Skinner**, the builder/owner named in NRHP nomination 91000526. --- ## Full transcription ### Main article: "Avery W. Skinner" by R. Austin Backus Just as the evening shadows were falling Monday afternoon, Mexico citizens were shocked to learn the news which quickly spread over the streets that one of our native sons, Avery W. Skinner, had suddenly passed away at Albany, in the Education building, where he had worked for many years. Every Mexico citizen was proud of Avery Skinner. Proud of the fact that from our local educational institution he was able, by hard work and exceptional ability, to eventually became Director of Examinations and Inspections in the educational department of the State of New York. But the people of Mexico did not think of Doctor Skinner as the director of the finest educational system in the United States; rather they thought of him as a friend and neighbor. He never for a moment lost sight of his high school Alma Mater and was quite fond to recall the past boastfully of Mexico Academy and high school. When the Military Academy was discontinued in 1895 and the union free school district organized, the Board of Education engaged Doctor Skinner as the first principal of the union district. In a period of less than eight years after he had graduated from Mexico Academy, Doctor Skinner was named its principal. Allen T. Cook in a paper on "Mexico Academy in Recent Years," which he read at the time of the Centennial celebration in 1926, said, "Under Mr. Skinner, who was principal from 1895 to 1899, there was no period of doubtful experimentation but a quick integration of faculty, courses and departments. The work of the grades was unified and served as an introduction to four years of substantial academic work under sympathetic guidance." His was the task, with the Board of Education, to close the three district schools then operating in the village, and organized a new faculty, new classrooms, and convince the people that this move was for the greater interests of the Mexico educational system. The graduating classes in those days were, of course, much smaller than those of today, but the quality was of the best. One has only to know the abilities of the graduates of the years 1896 thru 1899, to fully appreciate the results which Doctor Skinner was able to obtain. That he inspired his boys and girls with a desire for more knowledge, causing them to continue into higher educational institutions, is shown in the fact that six of the twenty-one living alumni within the scope of his four years are very successful physicians and surgeons. Others are attorneys, prominent educational and successful business people. The list is as follows, as taken from alumni records: **1896:** Dr. John Riley; Mrs. Walter Smith; D. Ward Howard; Mrs. Adelbert Borden; Orla A. Barton. **1897:** None living. **1898:** Dr. James W. Riley; Mabel V. Simons; Dr. Hugh Baker; Dr. Charles Curtis; George Davis; Frank Oxner; Dr. Earle A. Mowry; Ross L. Simons; Floyd Jones; Mrs. Mable Balch; Ford Markham; Mrs. Flora Wilson; Frank Jones. **1899:** Mrs. Monica Biederman; Mrs. J. Edgar Unger; Dr. Charles Elkins. For more than 30 years Doctor Skinner was in great demand as a speaker and lecturer before teachers, principals, and school superintendents. At the time of Doctor Skinner's retirement in 1936 as director of the Examinations and Inspections Division, a position which he successfully held for 16 years, the New York State education magazine said of him: "In the administration of the Examinations and Inspections Division he has exerted a notable influence in improving instruction in the elementary and secondary schools of the state. His administration has been marked by important advances in the type of supervisory service afforded by his Division, and in the improvement in the form of Regents examinations prepared under his direction. Possessed of a sound judgment, Doctor Skinner has been an important figure in the teaching of school administrators and teachers. He was held in affectionate regard by his friends and acquaintances in Mexico and vicinity, and by school people, and people interested in schools throughout the state. As proof of the high esteem rendered him by his colleagues, Doctor Skinner was elected honorary president of the Associated Academic Principals, the organization of secondary school principals of the state in 1908. Only one other person, Dr. Charles F. Wheelock, former assistant commissioner for secondary education has been so honored." [Article continues — second column:] …staunch and firm in the belief that education, like all other worldly activities, must move forward. Thus from the days of the three village schools in the village of Mexico he had had an important part during two crucial and epoch-making transitional periods. During the summer months and until election time this fall he made a daily inspection of construction progress on the new central school. He alone is responsible for Mexico having been selected as the first school in a village to have a department for physically handicapped. Many important conferences in which some of the leading educationalists of the state participated were held in the **study of his residence on Railroad Street**. Doctor Skinner worked with dynamic force in all activities and all undertakings of which he was a part. Long hours meant nothing to him; the future of the boys and girls of Mexico Oswego county and New York State did. He sacrificed for them until the very last and was at the time of his sudden death in conference with leading state educational officials to fully familiarize them to the emergency that now exists at our neighboring village of Pulaski. It is reported that he was in conference with Governor Lehman as late as last Friday. One of the finest addresses I ever heard was delivered by Dr. Skinner at the time the Altmar high school was dedicated a few years ago. In this address he was able to trace Oswego county from its earliest pioneer days down thru the years, touching the high spots in its educational growth and interweaving his intimate knowledge of its politics, and its business activities and its farming from a close association with his father, grandfather, and uncle Dr. Charles R. Skinner. It was in this address he referred to himself as in his sunset years. Calmly and without effort, he held an auditorium of interested listeners for nearly an hour. The Board of Education in Mexico had planned to honor Doctor Skinner in every possible manner at the time of our new school dedication. He was to have been the center of the entire evening devoted to Mexico's educational history. And so, as our new school becomes a going institutional center; as people enjoy the privileges of its library; listen to entertainments in its large and spacious auditorium; enjoy athletics and sports in its complete gymnasium; and as boys and girls grow in strength and knowledge; may each and every one never forget this man who was instrumental in making all these facilities in the building available to the people of this generation and to generations as yet unborn. --- ### DR. SKINNER — (Continued from front page) […administration at Oregon Agricultural College in 1927.] One of the ablest educators in the history of the state, Doctor Skinner, in the administration of the Examinations and Inspections Division exerted a notable influence in improving instruction in the elementary and secondary schools of the state. Important progress in the type of supervisory service afforded by his Division and in the improvement in the form of Regents examinations prepared under his direction marked the highlights of his administration. With a background rich in educational experience and possessed of a sound judgment, Doctor Skinner has been an important figure in the teaching of school administrators and teachers. He was held in affectionate regard by his friends and acquaintances in Mexico and vicinity, and by school people, and people interested in schools throughout the state. As proof of the high esteem rendered him by his colleagues, Doctor Skinner was elected honorary president of the Associated Academic Principals, the organization of secondary school principals of the state in 1908. Only one other person, Dr. Charles F. [Wheelock, former assistant commissioner for secondary education, has been so honored.] […of America," "History and Government of New York State," and "Community Life in New York." In addition to acting as associate editor of the High School Quarterly, he contributed extensively to educational magazines.] He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and acted as president of the eastern division of the Phi Beta Kappa during the last year. Delta Upsilon, Kappa Phi Kappa, and the Mexico Masonic Order fraternities. **Survivors** include his wife and two daughters, Mrs. H. O. Fullerton of Albany, and Mrs. Williard G. Taylor of Pulaski. Also seven grandchildren, John, Nancy, Joan, Mary Margaret and Williard Taylor and Avery and James Fullerton. --- ### "Who's Who in America" (1936–37 edition) — reprinted in the obituary > Skinner, Avery Warner, educator; born Mexico, N. Y., Aug. 18, 1870; son of Timothy (V.) and Sarah L. (Rose) Skinner; graduate of Mexico Academy 1887; A.B. Syracuse U., 1892; grad. study in history and school administration Columbia University, 1915; Ph.D. New York State College for Teachers, 1924; married Nancy Brown Bates of Titusville, Penna., August 24, 1893; children—Margaret (Mrs. Harlan Gould Fullerton), Charlotte Huntington (Mrs. Williard G. Taylor); principal Andes New York Collegiate Institute, 1892-95; principal Mexico N.Y. Acmy., 1895-99; instructor in history, State Summer School, Thousand Island Park, N.Y., 1898-1900; Superintendent of Schools, Oneida, New York, 1893-1909; Inspector of Schools, N.Y. State Educational Dept., 1909-1918; Supervisor of Examinations, 1917; director, examinations and inspector's division, same dept., since 1920; lecturer on Methods of Teaching History, summer sessions, Syracuse U., 1913-26, on school administration, Oregon Agricultural College, 1927. Trustee of Mexico Academy. Member A.A.S.A. (dept. of superintendence); National Association High School Supervisors and Inspectors (pres. 1926-28); Nat. Council State School Principals; Nat. Council Secondary School Principals; Assn. Supervisors State of N.Y. (pres. 1908); N.Y. State Hist. Assn.; N.Y. State Geo. Assn.; Sch. Supts.' History Teacher's Assn. Middle States and Md.; Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Upsilon, Kappa Phi Kappa; Republican; Presbyterian; Clubs: University (Albany); Delta Upsilon (New York); Author (with A.E. Foote) Explorers and Founders of America, 1897, revised, 1928; [and other works]… --- ### Tribute from Mrs. Mary Holmes Richards, Phoenix, N.Y. "We count our deeply revered and dearly loved friend Dr. Skinner among those 'who gave himself with his alma.' Often in our experience with young people we have gone to him with our problems, and never has he refused his personal interest and valued advice. "Only a year ago, one of our young friends seemed to be facing unsurmountable discouragements. We advised him to see Dr. Skinner and went with him to the **brick house on Railroad Street**. At his desk, busy with his own affairs, this loyal friend talked with the young man, a complete stranger, as only he could talk, and advised him with wisdom and sympathetic understanding as only he could counsel. As we were leaving we remarked that as long as we three should live, we should be coming to him in the interests of either our own children or those of others; to which he replied with his customary graciousness. "'All honor him' who stood in high places and stooped to lift up the young of his generation." Dr. Charles W. Richards Mrs. Mary Holmes Richards --- ### Tribute from Dr. C. E. Curtis, Manlius "I was shocked to learn of the untimely death of Avery W. Skinner. He was a great teacher and educator. The community will miss his kindly words and smile." --- ### Board of Education, Altmar Union School "It is with deep regret we learn of the passing of Dr. Avery W. Skinner, retired director of the inspection division of the State Education Dept. We, members of the Board of Education, Altmar Union School, extend our deepest sympathy to his family. Board of Education, Town of Albion, Altmar, N.Y." --- ### Resolutions (School Board of Mexico Academy and Central School) WHEREAS, God in his infinite wisdom has removed from our midst of our friend and advisor, Avery W. Skinner, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the members of the School Board of Mexico Academy and Central School, have suffered a great loss and sincerely deplore the fact that he could not have lived to see the completion of this school in which he took such a keen interest. He labored untiringly in its organization and watched with intense interest and pleasure the construction of the building. We deeply regret that the plans of the Board to have Doctor Skinner occupy a prominent place in the dedication of the structure, cannot be consummated. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes of the School Board, a copy handed to the "Mexico Independent," and a copy presented to members of the bereaved family who have our deep and abiding sympathy in this, their irreparable loss. Signed: R. Austin Backus, L.D. Pulsifer, Cameron Loomis, Hildred Trim, Leon Valley --- ### Second Resolution (Mexico Academy faculty) INASMUCH as God in his infinite wisdom has seen fit to take from us our dearly beloved friend, Dr. Avery W. Skinner, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the faculty of Mexico Academy… [Resolution continues; full text partially cut off in scan.] WHEREAS, he always evidenced a sincere interest and loyal cooperation in all matters of public welfare and education, therefore be it RESOLVED, That we, as members of the Board of Education of Pulaski Academy and Union Free School, Pulaski, N.Y., express our deep sorrow for the loss of one who by his loyalty and devotion to the interest of education won the sincere esteem of his co-workers, and be it further RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the bereaved family, a copy sent to the local press for publication and a copy spread upon the minutes of this meeting. O.B. Trowbridge, clerk, Board of Education, Pulaski Academy and Union Free School. --- *Transcription notes: Article is spread across Page 4 of the Mexico Independent. Some text at column breaks was partially obscured by the scan fold; passages marked […] indicate inferred continuations. All "Railroad Street" references and the "Who's Who" genealogical entry are clearly legible in the PDF.*